


Applied Theories

by darthvair65



Series: Forces of Nature [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-18
Updated: 2013-12-18
Packaged: 2018-01-05 00:38:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1087516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darthvair65/pseuds/darthvair65
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico is poisoned, and Percy thinks that he can use his powers to save him - he just doesn't count on how awkwardly intimate it is to fuck with someone's bloodstream.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Applied Theories

**Author's Note:**

> I had a plot bunny hopping around wherein Percy tries to use his control over bodily fluids to extract poison from a wound, and this baby was born. Comments are very much appreciated as most of the time I'm pretty sure these things suck, and if you're interested I have a writing blog on tumblr at darthvair-65 :) Enjoy~

If Percy had to describe the battle against Gaea in one word, that word would be ‘suckfest.’

It didn’t matter how carefully they planned their attacks, Gaea and some of her giants had counter attacks and contingency plans, while others were simply too difficult to predict so any attempts to go after one of those giants was generally a pretty quick failure. The whole battlefield was in utter chaos; Percy knew that if it hadn’t been for the very timely arrival of a small army – a Greco-Roman one at that – with Reyna, Clarisse, Nico, and Rachel leading them out of the Labyrinth they would have been completely routed, so he gave credit where it was due. Clarisse and the other Ares campers were taking down their fourth giant when Percy surveyed the field; Annabeth and Reyna were holding their own, while Jason and Leo combined their powers into a firestorm that sent two of the giants screaming in terror. A cursory glance around the field didn’t give him any clues about the others.

Percy wanted to collapse and take a weeklong nap, but the battle was far from over. Several dracanae were advancing on their serpentine legs, bearing long, wicked-looking swords splattered with demigod blood in hand.  Percy seethed, his insides clenching as he forced the fear down to make room for concentration.

A low howl broke the silence around him, and Percy jerked his head around towards the source of the sound; an enormous hound bounded up to him before coming to a halt about ten feet away. It wasn’t his hellhound, Mrs. O’Leary; this one belonged to Nico, and if Percy had heard him right its name translated to ‘Peaches’ or something like that. Nico had actually fitted her with special hellhound armor – Hades _would_ think of something like that – and a saddle, which he was sitting in as Peaches raised her hackles at the approaching monsters.

“Want some help with this?” Nico asked, drawing his black blade from its scabbard. He was dressed in black armor similar to the set he’d worn nearly a year ago in the battle against Kronos, but this set looked like it had been forged into a pattern of scales. He radiated death and a level of fearlessness that Percy couldn’t place. Where on earth had that come from?

“Absolutely,” Percy exhaled, drawing Riptide up while Peaches turned and growled menacingly. Nico pushed the faceplate of his helmet down, looking for all the world like a skeleton knight. Percy shoved aside all his apprehensiveness about Nico – his confusion at the younger demigod’s behavior towards him, his own feelings of failure and remorse – and charged alongside him.

Everything might’ve been okay if another dracanae hadn’t rushed them, separating Nico and Percy into separate battles. Percy felt like he hadn’t fought them in years – or they were more ferocious than he remembered, and his world narrowed down to _dodge, parry, strike, rinse and repeat_ within a few moments, but in the back of his mind he registered the yelping of a wild animal. It wasn’t until after his opponents fell in a storm of glittering dust that he turned and didn’t see Nico; he didn’t see the son of Hades’ opponent or hellhound, either.

_Fuck._

Still high on adrenaline and victor, Percy quickly picked his way through a series of huge boulders near where he’d last seen Nico fighting.

It doesn’t take him long to find Nico, not that the son of Hades was really trying to hide at all. He found him slumped against a boulder without his helmet or his hellhound; there was blood caked on to the right side of his head, but he was holding his right side with his hands in a way that sent a shiver of terror through Percy. There was blood on the insides of Nico’s trembling hands, and his breathing was shallow.

_No._

“Nico,” Percy called, scrambling over the rocks until he was right in front of him. “Nico, what happened?” he asked, grasping Nico’s hands and gently prying them away from his side. Parts of his armor had been torn away, and Percy hissed at the sight of the open wound, a gaping slash that was bleeding freely, and at the dark red lines making their way across his skin. _Poison_ , Percy’s mind supplied for him.

Nico hissed and clamped his hands back over the wound tightly, forcing himself to take deep breaths. “… snuck up on me,” he grumbled. “Killed my hellhound and got me too, but I sliced her in half,” Nico laughed, but the sound was hollow.

“Nico, you need to see a healer. There was poison on that blade.”

The son of Hades shook his head absently. “If I have to get up . . . I won’t make it that far. And I won’t have you carrying me, we’ll die long before we can get to any of Apollo’s kids.”

Percy frowned at that answer, his brain going leagues per second as he tried to find a way around those problems. “So, what – you’re just going to give up?” he demanded, scowling at Nico’s stubbornly stony, blank expression.

“I don’t really see any other viable options,” Nico muttered. “I can’t shadow travel, I don’t have a hellhound, and the giants would crush us if we tried to make a break for it across the field.”

“We have to try, if you stop fighting me we might make-“

“Shut up, Percy. I’m already dying, I don’t want your death on my conscience too,” he snapped, looking away.

Percy ran his fingers through his hair agitatedly, tugging on the strands. Then a thought popped into his head – and it was just crazy enough that it might work. “I can do it,” Percy said quietly, suddenly remembering his ability to control the fluids in a goddess’ body while in Tartarus. It wasn’t the same, but perhaps the principles could be utilized . . . “I can pull the poison out.”

Nico didn’t answer, but turned his face and fixed him with an oddly frightened look. “You can . . . what?”

“I’ve – I figured out I can manipulate the water in a person’s body. Blood, saliva, . . . I should be able to separate the poison and pull it out.”

Nico stared at him with this incredible disgusted expression that was impressive given the fact that the poison was eating away at him like acid. “One: ew. Two: poison and bodily fluids are two completely different things, Percy!”

“It’s water-based most of the time, so if I really focus . . . will you trust me for this, just this once?” When Nico continued to stare at him in disbelief Percy grew anxious, and the words started tumbling from his mouth in desperation. “Nico, please – I won’t stand here and let you die!”

Nico’s face is red, but Percy couldn’t tell if he was blushing or getting feverish; both seemed totally possible. His eyes were wide and terror was clearly written in his expression. After what seemed like an eternity, Percy watched his will crumble. “Alright. How do we do this?”

Percy blanched. He had no fucking clue. The last time he’d done anything remotely like this he’d nearly choked a goddess on her own saliva; that was absolutely nothing like probing someone’s bloodstream to find the poison that was slowly killing them. First things first, Percy thought to himself, setting his jaw and preparing himself for a fight. “Okay. I need to see the wound. So I need to get your chest piece off.”

Nico’s expression turned hard. He opened his mouth to argue, but Percy cut him off this time with an equally determined expression. “I’m not letting you die here. Not if I can help it.”

Nico grudgingly allowed Percy to pull the top pieces of his armor from his body, and Percy carefully shifted him so he was lying down on his back in a more comfortable position.

Once the large piece of armor was plied from his body Percy could see the wound and the extent of the poison clearly; the red lines of infection traveled up Nico’s ribcage, and were getting dangerously close to his heart. But the wound was on his side, so Percy put his hands on the son of Hades’ shoulder and leg to shift him onto his side. Nico flinched at his touch, and hissed out a warning even as Percy pushed his bloody black shirt up to expose the wound.

Nico lay perfectly still as Percy psyched himself up for what he was about to try; he had to succeed – he _had_ to, or else Nico was going to die and it was going to be his fault. Failure just wasn’t an option. The son of Hades cleared his throat. “What now?”

Percy bit his lip. “I know you don’t like people touching you – so I’ll warn you when I’m going to, okay?”

He saw Nico’s mouth curve downward slightly, and he saw his whole body stiffen. “Fine,” he muttered. “Just – it’s fine.”

“I’m gonna touch your side,” Percy said, trying to force calm into his voice as he reached out and placed his palm over the bleeding wound. Nico lurched violently, barely holding back a cry by biting down hard on his lip and muffling the sound. “I’m sorry,” Percy hissed apologetically, easing up on his already light pressure. Once Nico stilled again, Percy closed his eyes and tried to focus on the sensation of water, of the poison, floating through Nico’s bloodstream. He could feel the blood flowing through the younger demigod’s body – blood was mostly water, so it wasn’t a very far jump between them. Once Percy began to concentrate, he could almost hear Nico’s heart beat in his head; he let the slow, steady cycle of blood through his heart and arteries lull him into a more relaxed state.

He must have been focusing on the sensation for a few minutes, because Nico cleared his throat and grumbled something at him akin to “I don’t think this is working.” A moment later Percy imagined thin fingers snaking through arteries and capillaries in search of the damning poison, mentally traveling through the tiny blood vessels, and Nico gasped and tensed. “Percy?” he heard him ask in a small, strained voice; Nico’s eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging open in shock, and his fingers were still shaking.

“It’s ok,” Percy said, hoping to soothe his friend. “I just need to find the poison now.”

“Percy, I can feel you poking around in my veins,” Nico whispered, swallowing thickly. “This is really weird.”

“You can feel that?”

Nico nodded slowly, like he was too afraid to move or even petrified by the feeling. “It’s warm. Like, I can feel exactly where you are. Please don’t prod the intestines,” he warned, and Percy shifted his focus higher with a snort. “You’re warming my veins,” Nico gave a little incredulous laugh. “This is so fucking weird.”

“Yeah,” Percy had to agree with him – this was possibly the weirdest thing he’d ever done with his powers. “It’s really weird.” He was literally prodding around inside someone’s body – in an entirely nonsexual way – _inside Nico_ , and even if it was to save his life Percy is well aware of just how strange that is. If he focuses hard enough he feels warm, like Nico wrapped him in a thick blanket.

“You know how you said I don’t like people touching me? How do you think I feel about you being _inside_ like this? It’s entirely too close and way, way too . . .” Nico scowled, the word failing him.

Percy understood what he was trying to say, though. What he was doing was way beyond any level of even platonic intimacy that he could claim with Nico; it was violating so many boundaries that the son of Hades had implemented himself, and Percy felt awkward despite the fact that Nico had given him the thumbs up. It was too familiar, and with Nico’s life literally in his hands Percy tried to ignore the feeling that he was a very unwelcome guest.

Percy tried to be careful, but he really didn’t know what he was doing to be honest; he figured he should have tried harder to make this less awkwardly intimate, but that thought flew out the window when the tendrils of power searching out the poison accidentally prodded Nico’s liver in his search and the son of Hades yowled, his elbow crashing into Percy’s nose.

“I’m sorry,” Nico muttered a few moments later, and even his voice trembled. “Did I break your nose?”

“No,” Percy answered, pinching the bridge of his nose to stem the flow of blood, ignoring the tears tracking down his face. “No, it’s fine. Listen, I think I’m getting close to collecting it all. But . . . I think this last part is going to be the hardest. You need to distract yourself from the pain.”

“Okay,” Nico mumbled uncertainly, his expression twisting.

“Frank said you remembered growing up in Venice,” Percy prompted him. “Tell me about Venice – what it was like when you were a kid. I’ve never been. Will you tell me?”

Nico blinked, peering up at him out of the corner of his eye. “Okay.”

He began to speak, and Percy’s mind conjured up fractured images of the water-bound city – the bridges, the gondolas, the smell – as he continued. Nico’s voice faltering as Percy prodded deeper, carefully drawing the poison out of deeper veins; Percy asked him about Mythomagic, averting his attention again for a little bit. Drop by drop poison gathered against the palm of Percy’s hand just above the wound, each one dragging along the walls of blood vessels.

“Have you ever had blood drawn?” Nico asked a few minutes later, his voice strained and dry. His face was getting redder, and he could feel that Nico’s skin was several degrees warmer than when they started.

“Yeah. Why?” Nico had been in the middle of explaining how the attack cards worked when he broke off and asked that question.

“That’s kind of what this feels like. Like, I can’t feel the needle in my skin – because there isn’t one – but it’s like I can feel the point of the needle inside. In the vein. But it’s you, and that is a level of weird that I don’t have the vocabulary to express.”

Percy snorted gently, and was preparing to ask if he was alright when he reached for the furthest blood vessels that the poison had traveled to; Nico cringed, biting his lip; his whole body tensed, and Percy did the first thing he could think of to try and help him calm down: he put his free hand on Nico’s shoulder and rubbed it in slow, soothing circles. “It’s ok,” he murmured, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, it’ll be over soon . . .”

Nico’s arm moved swiftly, and though Percy had been afraid that he was going to hit him Nico simply placed his hand on top of Percy’s as it gripped his shoulder, meshing their fingers together. He refused to meet Percy’s eyes though. “We’re ok. Just get this shit out of me so you can stop dicking around in my blood.” Even Nico’s fingers were warm.

Percy tried to process the fact that Nico had voluntarily touched him just then, and he didn’t want to break the calm but he needed to make sure his friend was okay. “Are you alright?”

“Just dandy,” Nico huffed. “You’re pushing poison out of me but it feels like you’re forcing boiling water through my veins right about now.”

“I’m sorry, Nico. I’m almost done. We’re almost there.”

 Percy lost track of the horrified thoughts that overwhelmed him as he pulled the last few droplets of poison to him like he was a magnet. He pulled his hand away from the wound on Nico’s side, wincing at the horrid sucking sound produced as his hand was removed, his palm covered in a thin, clear liquid stained red. Percy stared at it with wide eyes, his coated hand shaking with the effort it had taken to extract that.

“You fucking did it,” Nico muttered, staring up in astonishment. “Holy shit.”

“Told you I could,” Percy whispered, almost in awe that the crazy scheme had actually worked. He chanced a look down at the open wound on Nico’s side, and found that it was actually clotting – it wasn’t perfect and it wouldn’t totally heal until he got some nectar or ambrosia, but at least he wasn’t bleeding out any more.

Nico was staring at him with this intense expression, his face red, and Percy chose to ignore the wetness welling in the corner of his eye – whether it was from relief or pain or something else, Percy felt like he’d invaded Nico’s space far too much in just a few minutes and he half expected a knee to the balls any time. “Thank you,” Nico managed, voice strangled and quiet.

Percy helped Nico to stand, and threw one of Nico’s arms over his shoulder to support him. “Come on; we’re not done yet.”


End file.
